Somalia says kills senior al Shabaab commander in raid

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia said on Monday its military and allied foreign troops had killed a senior member of al Shabaab it said was responsible for several Islamist bombings.

The information ministry said a military raid near the southern town of Torotoroow on Sunday had killed a man identified as Ali Mohamed Hussein or Ali Jabal. It did not disclose the nationality of the foreign troops, but American soldiers have in the past taken part in such raids.

"This individual was part of an al Shabaab network responsible for planning and executing several bombings and assassinations that resulted in the deplorable death of numerous innocent civilians in Mogadishu," the ministry said.

It is the second raid carried out with foreign troops in the last two months that has killed senior members of al Shabaab.

A U.S. Navy SEAL was killed and two troops wounded in May in a raid on one of the group's compounds in what appeared to be the first U.S. combat death in the African country since the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident.

Somalia said Ali Jabal's death would "reduce al Shabaab's ability to conduct senseless acts of violence against the people of Somalia, its East African neighbors, and the international community."

Al Shabaab was not immediately reachable for comment.

The al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents have carried out frequent attacks in Mogadishu as they bid to topple Somalia's Western-backed government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops.

Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other.